December meeting

Instead of our usual meeting, we will be having a caroling party for December. This will include other friends as well as the more the merrier!

Please join us for a

Caroling Party!

When:

Monday

December 16, 2013

6:30-9:00pm

Where:

The Outlaw Hideout

(Our Grandparents’ House)

Ask for address as I don't want it posted on the blog! 

What:

Caroling

Gift Exchange

Minute to Win It Games

Christmas Games

Prizes

What to Bring:

Dress warmly for caroling

Please bring a treat to share.

A gift for the gift exchange.

(Gift should be inexpensive and appeal to boys and girls.)

We will provide:

Hot cocoa and fixings

Jingle bells and Music

Gifts for the houses we visit.

PLEASE RSVP!

We need to know how many to prepare for so

Please call or email to let us know if you can come or not.

Jennifer.guyer@gmail.com

Discussion Questions for Seventeen Wishes

Seventeen Wishes
It’s summer, and that means the beach and other adventures. And Christy Miller’s best friend, Katie, is always full of ideas. They’ll be camp counselors! But when Katie can’t go, Christy is bewildered and overwhelmed by her fifth-grade girls, who have boundless energy for anything except what Christy wants them to do. Do they even hear a word she says? Soon they’re playing matchmaker between Christy and Jaeson, a handsome counselor...and he doesn’t seem to mind. When Christy’s seventeenth birthday arrives later in the summer, just what will she be wishing for?

1. What was the jar for that sat on the shelf in the guys’ apartment? Have you ever sponsored a child in another country? If so, what are some things that you enjoy and have learned from that experience? What country do/did your children live in?

2. Have you ever thought about having your own apartment and how you would decorate it?

3. Christy thinks about the “invisible rope” that connects her to her parents and how, the older she gets, the more rope they let out and let her experience on her own. Do you ever feel like that? Does the rope seem confining or comforting to you? Or both? What kinds of rules do you have right now? How are they different from when you were younger or what older siblings have?

4. Do you find it hard to fit in to a new group as Christy did at the God Lovers meeting?

5. What rule did Christy almost break after the God Lovers meeting? Why was she tempted to break the rule? Have you ever been tempted to disobey a rule because it was awkward to go against the crowd? How did Christy’s friends help her? How will true friends behave when you try to do what’s right, even if it’s inconvenient?

6. Why was Christy concerned for Katie? Why do you think Rick treated Katie as he did?

7. How did the guys seem similar  to the different animals that they gravitated toward?

8. Why do you think Todd seems to hold back in his relationship with Christy at this point? Why doesn’t he treat her romantically like Rick did? Why do you think Christy keeps wishing for more instead of appreciating him as Katie suggests?

9. What does Todd mean when he says he won’t deliberately arouse a desire in Christy to he can’t follow through on honestly before God?

10. What surprise did Christy get about camp? How would you have reacted to that surprise?

11. Christy’s cabin girls responded positively to touch and positive attention. Christy also responded to these things from Jaeson. What does this tell us about the power of touch and attention? How can we use these for good? Can we sometimes give the wrong message with our touch or attention? How does this tie back into what Todd told Christy about why he takes things slow?

12. What was the advise that Jessica gave to Christy about counseling her girls? What was the most important thing she could remember? Did Christy find this advice to be true?

13. Do you think it was a good idea for Christy to try to have a camp romance with someone she would only know for a week? Do you agree with Jaeson that no one gets hurt if they both know it’s a game? What did Christy decided about this in the end?

14. What is Todd’s blessing? What does it mean to love God above all else? Do you think you have that kind of love for God?

15. What does Christy tell Sara about kisses? (p134)

16. Christy felt that the ant attack was one of her worst experiences. Has anything like that ever happened to you? What was one of your worst experiences? Did anything good come from it?

17. What did Dean Ferril suggest Christy do during her recovery time? Have you ever used a time of illness to draw closer to God and to pray? Robin tells about how she did this in a recent blog entry. http://www.robingunn.com/quiet-time/

18. What did Dean Ferril say Christy had accomplished during this week? Do you ever feel like you have failed at getting through to others about spiritual matters?

19. What did Christy learn about her dreams and God’s dreams for her? (p 154)

20. How does Christy tell Sara how to accept Christ? Have you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior? Do you have any questions?

21. Robin, Katie and Sara accepted Christ at camp. Do you remember where you were when you accepted him as your Saviour? Who helped you to learn about salvation? How can we teach others about Christ? How did Christy teach the girls? What made the most influence in reaching her girls that week? 

22. What was your favorite/least favorite part of this book?

23. What lessons did you learn from reading this book?

Just for fun. Songs from the God Lovers meeting

November Meeting

Monday, November 18, 2013

7-9PM

Family Vision Library

We will be discussing
Seventeen Wishes

Important meeting information

Just a reminder that our October meeting is on Oct 28 at Great Skate from 6:30-8:30pm.

Also, starting in November, we will be meeting at Family Vision Library. 

Fall Schedule

Ok. After a trial run at the new meeting schedule of 4th Mondays, it seems that is not going to work, so I have asked to have our meetings back on the 3rd Monday. So, our next meeting will be Sept 16th.

However, in October, instead of meeting at our usual time and place, we will be meeting at Great Skate Roller Rink on Oct 28th, which is the 4th Monday. Hopefully that will work for most.

Here is the schedule for the Fall:

Sept 16, 7-9 pm Starry Night 
(Book 7 OR Christy Miller Volume 3: book 2)

Please turn in your Read a Thon pledge sheets and pledges at the September meeting!

Oct 28 6:30-8:30pm Great Skate Night ($5 entrance, $1 skate rental)

Nov 18, 7-9pm : Seventeen Wishes
(Book 8 OR Christy Miller Vol 3: Book 3)

December Date and Time to Be Determined: Caroling Party

Discussion Questions for Starry Night

Starry Night It’s Christmastime, and Christy Miller has so much going on: family time, work, and maybe, just maybe, going to the Rose Bowl Parade with a bunch of friends. If only she could answer Uncle Bob’s tough questions. Todd’s buddy Doug gives her some insight, and she starts to appreciate him in a whole new way. Rick Doyle shows up again...but is he pursuing Christy or the cutest elf at the mall? Through it all, will Christy find someone special to count the stars with?

* What did you think about Jon asking Christy not to say Merry Christmas to the customers? What did you think of Christy's response? Do you think you would have been brave enough to do the same? What was the result of Christy standing up to Jon? How was that a witness to him?

*Why does Christy get so upset about her family's plans for Christmas and Katie being able to hang out with her friends without her? Christy has learned not to behave poorly when things don't go her way. How did she learn that? How does that help her in the end? How do you behave when your parents don't agree to your plans?

*Why does Christy want to talk to Rick? What did she accomplish with her talk? Do you think it is possible for boys and girls to be friends after they have dated? What helps or does not help that to happen?

* Doug says that Christy is irresistible to others because of her love of God. Why do you think he said that? Why does that make her irresistible? Do you think he is right about Rick's response to Christy? Think about the image you portray to others. Do they know you love God? Do you stand up for your beliefs even when others may give you a hard time, like Jon and Rick? How do you think that makes others feel about you?

*Christy wondered what it was that made her and Todd close but her and Doug just friends. What do you think the difference is?

*In a world that doesn't believe that abstinence only education is realistic, do you believe it is realistic that a guy would not kiss a girl until their wedding day? What do you think of this standard? How would it make you to feel if your boyfriend waited till your wedding day to kiss you? How do you think it would make you feel to know that your boyfriend never kissed anyone but you? What is Todd's standard for physical affection? Why do you think he set that standard? How were Todd's kisses different than Rick's?

*Have you thought about your standard for physical affection?

*Think about how Rick and Doug handled Christy's relationship with Todd. How were they different? 

*Why do you think Rick was jealous of Todd?

*What do you think is happening with Rick and Katie? Why did Katie get upset about the talk about "virgin lips"?

*Todd said he was not afraid of anything in creation because he knew the creator. What did he mean by this?

*What did Todd mean when he said five of the surfers had laid down their weapons and surrendered to God?

*Why didn't Todd go the the competition after all his preperation? What did he say was the reason for going to Hawaii? What did he find more important: winning the competition or winning souls? What did you think of that? Have you ever been in a situation like that?

*Have you ever felt like God made a promise and then disappeared? What reminders does God give you to show that he is still there and will keep his promises? Do you find it hard sometimes to wait for God's timing? What promise was Todd having faith in? Why was it hard sometimes to trust in that promise?

 *At the beginning of the book, Robin dedicates the book to Rich Mullins, Margaret Becker and Bryan Duncan, who all wrote songs that helped inspire this book. Listen to this song by Rich Mullins and relate it to what you read in the book.

Discussion Questions for True Friends

1. What characteristics do you believe make a true friend?
2. What made Todd a true friend?
3. What made Katie a true friend?
4. Was Christy a good friend?
5. Do you want your friends to be as honest as Katie, even if what they say might be hard to hear?
6. Do you think you would do something like skiing, even if it wasn't your thing, for a friend?
7. Christy liked the quote from Constantine that says, "My Treasures are my friends." Do you agree?
8. Christy's youth group leader said, "Each of us is a missionary right where we are." How can you be a missionary where you are? What are some things you can do?
9. What did you think of Katie calling the ski trip a mission trip? How was it so?
10. What does it mean to be in the world but not of it?
11. Have you ever made a "hit list" of people to pray for and witness to? Think about who you might include.
12. Do you have trouble thinking of how to approach others with the Gospel like Christy did? Do you have suggestions to share with others?
13. Christy's youth leader had them thank God for something they never consciously thanked Him for. Can you think of something like that to thank Him for?
14. Have you ever been tempted to betray a friend just to fit in with the crowd?
15. How do you think you would have handled the situation with the girls on the ski trip?
16. Christy never specifically shared the Gospel with anyone in this book. Do you think she was a witness to anyone?  How does the way we live our life speak to others about God?
17. What were your favorite and least favorite parts of the book?
18. What lessons did you learn from this book?